An investigation by BBC Newsnight on July 27, 2023, revealed that Google's earthquake warning system failed to reach many residents in southern Turkey before the devastating double earthquake disaster that occurred in February, claiming tens of thousands of lives.
Google claims that its Android Earthquake Alert System is capable of providing users with up to one minute's notice before an earthquake strikes, utilizing a loud alarm to alert them. The company stated that it had sent tremor alerts to millions of users prior to the first and largest quake that hit in the early hours.
However, when the BBC conducted interviews with hundreds of people in three cities within the earthquake zone, they were unable to find anyone who had received a warning.
Harold Tobin, the director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, expressed concern, saying that if Google promises or implies the delivery of an earthquake early warning service, the stakes are raised as it directly relates to people's lives and safety. He believes that Google has a responsibility to follow through on such a critical service.
Micah Berman, the product lead on Google's system, defended the earthquake warning system, stating that they are confident it worked and alerts were sent out. However, the BBC reported that the company did not provide evidence that these alerts were widely received.
Although about 80% of mobile phones in Turkey operate on the Android system, the BBC found only a small number of individuals who claimed to have received a Google earthquake alert before the second quake struck during lunchtime.
Google's earthquake alert service is considered a "core" component of its Android service, utilizing the vast network of Android phones to send quake alerts. This is made possible by the accelerometers in smartphones that can detect shaking.
During their investigation, the BBC team visited cities like Adana, Iskenderun, and Osmaniye, located between 70 and 150 kilometers away from the earthquake epicenter. The people they interviewed were adamant that they did not receive any Google warnings on their phones prior to the first earthquake. One woman named Funda, who tragically lost 25 members of her family in the disaster, stated that she was "certain" she did not receive any alert from Google.
Tobin emphasized the importance of Google being transparent about its earthquake alert service, suggesting that if the system had worked during this major earthquake, it could have been highly beneficial. However, the failure of the system during such a significant earthquake raises questions about its effectiveness and why it did not provide the expected benefits during one of the biggest earthquakes in the last century.
